Saturday teams: LV= Cup

Harlequins have named a side mixed with youth and experience to face the Saints in the opening round of the LV= Cup.

Harlequins have named a side mixed with youth and experience to face Northampton Saints in the opening round of the LV= Cup at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday.

With five players named in England's squad to face Fiji, two away with Samoa and following short term injuries to Rory Clegg and Charlie Walker in Monday 's Aviva 'A' League, senior starting debuts have been given to Harry Sloan and Dave Ward.

Ollie Lindsay-Hague starts at full-back while Ben Botica and Karl Dickson form Harlequins's half-back combination. Following injury to Tom Casson in the victory over Gloucester, Sloan will start in the centres with Matt Hopper.

Pete Browne and Joe Trayfoot make their first start of the season, while open side flanker Luke Wallace captains the side for the first time.

Among the replacements, Jack Clifford, Jordan Burns, Louis Grimoldby and Miles Mantella will look to make their first senior appearances for the club.

There are a number of long term injuries to the squad which include Will Skinner, George Merrick and Ross Chisholm amongst others. Skinner's recovery from a neck injury has been slower than expected and the flanker has been sent for consultation and further investigation.

Merrick has undergone surgery on a dislocated knee picked up in training and is expected to be out for four to six months.

Chisholm has had a setback in his recovery from an ankle injury sustained against Leicester Tigers in September and will also have surgery, keeping him out until late January.

Meanwhile, Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder has named one debutant from the Senior Academy in his starting line-up with a potential five more on the bench.

Centre Tom Stephenson starts the game, while props Ethan Waller and Danny Herriott have been named on the bench along with scrum-half Alex Day and outside backs Anders Mogensen and Tom Collins.

Recent signing Semesa Rokoduguni will make his first team debut for Bath when they face the Dragons at the Recreation Ground.

Rokoduguni starts on the left wing, with Olly Woodburn making his first senior appearance of the season on the right. Matt Banahan and Dan Hipkiss combine in the centres once more, with Ollie Devoto starting at fullback for the first time.

Tom Heathcote and Mark McMillan form a new half-back partnership, both also making their first starts of the season.

Charlie Beech and Anthony Perenise scrum down either side of Brett Sharman, making his first start for the Club at hooker, whilst Stuart Hooper and Will Spencer link up in the second row. Simon Taylor is back at number 8, as Guy Mercer and Josh Ovens fill the flanker roles.

There is a notable return from injury for Ryan Caldwell who starts on the bench, with Ken Dowding and Luke Adamson, on loan from Bridgend and Salford Reds respectively, also named as replacements.

Worcester winger Nikki Walker will make his comeback from injury for the club's opening LV= Cup fixture with Scarlets at Sixways Stadium on Saturday.

Jon Clarke also returns in the centres alongside Alex Grove. Jonny Arr and Joe Carlisle will again combine at half-back.

Dean Schofield captains the team from the second row where he is paired with Chris Jones while George Porter and James Currie are named in the front row.

New recruit Richard de Carpentier is named in the back row for his senior debut for the club after the announcement this week that he had signed a contract with Warriors. Jake Abbott also features with Blair Cowan at number eight.

Meanwhile, a number of new faces join the Scarlets starting line-up with the chance to impress.

With 15 Scarlets internationals now on duty during the November Test series, the West Wales side focuses its attention on the competition they flew the flag for in Wales in last season - winning all of their pool matches and reaching the semi-finals.

The Scarlets convincingly won their group last season ahead of English clubs Harlequins, Gloucester and Newcastle but were beaten to a final place by Northampton Saints (27-12) away from home.

After back-to-back wins in their last two RaboDirect PRO12 games and sitting second in the league, the Scarlets will want to build on their positive momentum in their competition opener ahead their second LV=Cup clash - a thrilling Welsh derby against Cardiff Blues at Parc y Scarlets next Saturday.

It's a warm welcome to the Scarlets jersey for new South African tighthead signing Jacobie Adriaanse. The 27-year-old prop from Johannesburg is highly regarded as a technical scrummager and effective ball carrier with strong defensive skills and has been playing Super Rugby at the Lions for the past two years.

It's also a first start of the season for some more familiar Scarlets including last season's centre sensation Adam Warren who partners the captain for the trip to Sixways Gareth Maule.

Young scrum-half Aled Davies gets his first start after making an impressive impact off the bench against Zebre last weekend. Lee Williams returns to the wing for his first apperance of the season and new